Public Relations Basic Track, B.A.

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Assistant Professor Moak, Chair

The Department of Communication seeks to prepare students for a career in Public Relations, with emphasis areas in Sports Communications and Marketing Communications. Public Relations is one of the fastest-growing fields, and is expected to grow significantly during the next decade. Public Relations professionals work within all types of organizations, agencies and business to help create and maintain mutually-beneficial relationships with the public. Typically, Public Relations careers require skills in oral and written communication; understanding of the mass media; ability to understand audiences; knowledge of strategic and crisis planning, and other skills. Students majoring in Public Relations will meet professionals in the classroom, as well as the workplace. Non-majors will benefit by acquiring and honing communications skills crucial for the workplace in nearly any field.

There are three options for Public Relations majors: The Basic Public Relations track allows students advanced opportunities to develop their readiness for the Public Relations workplace. Students interested in the Sports Communication emphasis will receive a basic framework of Public Relations knowledge, with additional classes focusing on understanding work in various sports organizations and environments. Students interested in the Marketing Communications emphasis would major in Public Relations, with an emphasis in Marketing Communications. The fields of Marketing and Public Relations, while fundamentally different from each other, require some of the same skills and knowledge areas from the other. Students in this emphasis area would take marketing and business courses to help prepare them for their careers. All students are expected to complete a Public Relations internship.

45 hours to include:

Required Communication Courses

Note:

Please note that COM 450 is internship and is a requirement for the major. Every job in communication requires experience, and the best way to gain that real-world experience is through the internship. In order to be approved by the University to do an internship, the communication student must have an overall GPA of 2.75. (If a 2.75 overall GPA is not obtained by final semester, three hours of relevant coursework will be chosen by the department chair for substitution).

Honors Program:

The communication department offers opportunities for students to enroll in honors courses from its department. The following are courses that may be taken as honors courses: COM 201 , COM 210 , COM 300 , COM 309 and COM 440 . For students majoring in this department, one must pass a minimum of nine hours of honors courses within the discipline and a minimum of nine hours from the honors courses of other departments. Each course must be passed with a B or better. No more than 18 hours are required for the honors degree. For other honors program policies, see “Honors Program” found in the “Administration of the Curriculum ” section of this catalogue.